![]() Rose, who had an exclusivity clause in his fair contract, met Todd at Lindy's, where Rose learned his contract covered new forms of entertainment only. Whalen, eager to have the show at the fair, covered Todd's Broadway early closing costs. Todd visited Grover Whalen, president of the 1939 New York World's Fair, with a proposal to bring the Broadway show to the Fair. Todd's Broadway success gave him the nerve to challenge showman Billy Rose. The subsequent success of Todd's production, at the expense of the Chicago production, contributed to the financial crisis and ultimate demise of the Federal Theatre Project unit in Chicago. ![]() The Hot Mikado, starring Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, opened on Broadway March 23, 1939. Īfter seeing the Federal Theatre Project's Chicago run of The Swing Mikado, an adaptation of the Gilbert and Sullivan opera The Mikado with an all African-American cast conceived by Harry Minturn, Todd decided to do his own version on Broadway, The Hot Mikado, despite protests by the FTP. Todd got his first taste of Broadway with the engagement and was determined to find a way to work there. The act attracted enough attention to bring an offer from the Casino de Paree nightclub in New York City. In this number, gas jets were designed to burn part of a dancer's costume, leaving her naked in appearance. Todd owned a Theatre Cafe in Chicago's Lake View neighborhood in the 1940s that provided dinner with live presentations and music.ĭuring the 1933–1934 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, Todd produced an attraction called the "Flame Dance". Todd's subsequent business career was volatile, and failed ventures left him bankrupt many times. Todd married the former Bertha Freshman on February 14, 1927, and was the father of an infant son with no home for his family. Not yet 21, Todd had lost over $1 million (equivalent to about $17,517,928 in today's funds). The company he owned with his brother went bankrupt when its financial backing failed in the early days of the Great Depression. His first flirtation with the film industry was when he served as a contractor to Hollywood studios, soundproofing production stages during the transition from silent pictures to sound. Todd and his brother, Frank, next opened their own construction company. The school was forced to close when the Bricklayers' Union did not view the college as an accepted place of study. He opened the College of Bricklaying of America, buying the materials to teach bricklaying on credit. Todd began his career in the construction business, where he made, and subsequently lost, a fortune. When the drugstore went out of business, Todd had acquired enough medical knowledge from his work there to be hired at Chicago's Michael Reese Hospital as a type of "security guard" to stop visitors from bringing in food that was not on the patient's diet. One of his first jobs was as a soda jerk. He eventually dropped out of high school, and worked at a variety of jobs, including shoe salesman and store window decorator. ![]() (As Mike Todd, he would produce a jazz version of the musical on Broadway in 1939. In high school, he produced the school play, The Mikado, which was considered a hit. ![]() Todd was expelled in the sixth grade for running a game of craps inside the school. The family later moved to Chicago, arriving on the day World War I ended. He was one of nine children in a poor family, the youngest son, and his siblings nicknamed him "Tod" (pronounced "Toat" in German) to mimic his difficulty pronouncing the word "coat." It was from this that his name was derived. Todd was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Chaim Goldbogen (an Orthodox rabbi), and Sophia Hellerman, both of whom were Polish Jewish immigrants. He was the driving force behind the development of the eponymous Todd-AO widescreen film format. Todd was the third of Taylor's seven husbands, and the only one whom Taylor did not divorce - Todd died in a private plane accident a year after their marriage. ![]() Actress Elizabeth Taylor was his third wife. Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen June 22, 1909 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, celebrated for his 1956 Around the World in 80 Days, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. ![]()
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